Perfusion single photon emission computed tomography and akinetic mutism.

Akinetic mutism is an areactive status with permanent opening of the eyes. The accountable lesions are always bilateral. The injured cerebral structur es include the frontal gyri, the thalami or the mesencephalic areas. In one case of a 44-year-old patient, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tom ography were not contributive. Tc99m brain SPECT imaging was performed and displayed bilateral frontal hypoactivity. This case suggests that this tech nique could be helpful for diagnosis when clinical features and radiologica l pattern are opposite.